SENIOR TEACHERS HIT OUT OVER FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS IN MP’S SURVEY
Fear of more cuts and bigger class sizes
SENIOR teachers responding anonymously to a survey have said they were being forced to make support staff redundant and fork out for basic equipment out of their own pocket.
Not one head teacher who responded to Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan’s survey said they were satisfied with the current level of funding.
Six head teachers – out of the 13 quizzed – were dissatisfied and six were very dissatisfied.
Of the 13 schools surveyed, seven said they had cut teaching assistant numbers since 2015 and almost half said they were aware of staff spending their own money to provide resources.
One unnamed teacher said: ‘This is the worst funding per pupil in my lifetime. It is likely I will need bigger classes taught by fewer teachers.’ Special Educational Needs and Disability budgets have also been axed.
Five head teachers said they had been forced to cut staff working in the area with more than half saying they cut Send provision. Meanwhile, 10 respondents said they would have to make further Send cuts in the next two years.
One head teacher said: ‘We have more Send children entering the system with complex needs – yet our Send budget has been cut.’
Eight head teachers said they had already made cuts in the supply of books and equipment, with the same number admitting they would make further reductions in the next two years. Labour MP Mr Morgan said: ‘The fact that 100 per cent of respondents said they have made cuts in multiple areas since 2015 is concerning ‘Budgets have been slashed by £7.7bn in real terms since 2011.’ A spokesman for the Department for Education insisted more cash has been put into the system. He said: ‘The education secretary has secured an extra £400m of capital funding for schools from the treasury. ‘School funding in England is at its highest ever level, rising from almost £41bn in 2017-18 to £43.5bn by 2019-20.’
But one teacher in the survey said: ‘What they don’t say is that more money than ever is coming back out through national insurance and pensions.’
This is the worst funding per pupil in my lifetime. It is likely I will need bigger classes taught by fewer teachers Unnamed teacher
It’s understandable that individual teachers don’t want to come out and be critical of education funding. They have to think of their careers. But in private and between themselves, you can imagine the conversations.
– Today we reveal how not a single head teacher who took part in Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan’s survey said they were satisfied with the current level of funding.
Anonymity allowed them to be honest about what was happening in their classrooms – and they didn’t hold back.
Of the 13 schools involved in the survey, se ven head teachers said they had been forced to cut teaching assistant numbers since 2015 and almost half said they were aware of staff spending their own money to provide resources.
It’s alarming enough that more than half of the schools have had to shed support staff, who play such an important role in helping the less able pupils.
But five head teachers said they had also had to cut special education needs and disability provision as budgets had been axed at a time when more children with complex needs are entering the education system.
Meanwhile we seem to have got to the stage where it’s become routine for teachers to have to dig in their own pockets to pay for books and equipment.
One head teacher even s aid: ‘This is the worst funding per pupil in my lifetime.’
But while Mr Morgan claims school budgets have been cut by £7.7bn in real terms since 2011, the Department for Education insists more cash has been put into the system.
A spokesman counter-claimed school funding in England was at its highest ever level, rising from almos t £41bn in 2017-18 to £43.5bn by 2019-20.
But the real-world responses from teachers at the chalkface would seem to suggest that whatever money is going into education today, it’s nowhere near enough.